3.30.2010

JUNE HAVOC DIES AT 97: THE STAR IN HER MOTHER'S EYES


JUNE HAVOC November 8, 1912 — March 28, 2010
Photo by Gabi Rona – © MPTV – Image courtesy mptvimages.com


Dainty June

Just read today about June Havoc passed on at age 97. Wow! what a life she and her sister Gypsy Rose Lee experienced. Having read every book I could find on them I came away with the mother not be such a monster. She had a dream and nothing was going to stop her. If she was passed the age to perform herself she trained her girls to be stars and she was successful at that dream.

Both Gypsy (Louise Hovick) and June Havoc (Hovick) Became big stars. Gypsy as the most famous of all exotic dancers. Hard to call her a stripper as she always managed to keep a little bit covered.

June ran away and married to escape her Mother's vaudeville dream to become a stage actress, was in many films and was very popular in the Golden Age in Hollywood.


Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz and June Hovac

The mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, was a teen aged bride fresh from a convent school when she married Jack Olaf Hovick. At 19, she gave birth to the 12-pound Rose Louise on January 8, 1911, at 4314 Frontenac Street in West Seattle. Rose reported that the birth was horrific and the baby was washed outside in the snow.


Mama Rose Hovick

A second child was born in Vancouver B.C. two years later, and named June. By this time the Hovick marriage was in trouble, but it limped along a little longer. Rose’s father had not allowed Rose to go on the stage, and now, she wanted a career for her children.


June and Louise circa 1925

Rose set to work to make a performer out of Louise, but Louise had no talent at all. She couldn’t sing or dance. Her little sister June, however, could dance on point at aged two. Rose’s father arranged for a debut concert at his lodge hall, and soon Baby June was appearing regularly around Seattle, once as part of the bill on Anna Pavolva’s farewell tour, inspiring Rose to change her billing to “Baby June, the Pocket-sized Pavlova.”


Meanwhile, Rose Louise, nicknamed Plug, a chubby, ungainly child with dark hair in a shiny Dutch bob, stayed back in Seattle with her father or grandparents and went to kindergarten, sometimes visiting her mother and her sister in Hollywood. When Louise was seven, she joined them permanently. Neither girl got any further schooling.

June was now the star of the vaudeville act, “Madam Rose presents Dainty June and her Newsboy Songsters.” The newsboy songsters consisted of a revolving cast of male street urchins whose parents were glad to turn them over to someone who would feed them. They received pocket money and the promise of theatrical training.

Louise was one of the newsboy songsters, and even off stage was sometimes dressed as a boy in a knickerbockers, cloth cap, and belted leather coat so as not to eclipse June, who sported tiny fur coats, hats and muffs, garish makeup and peroxided ringlets.


“People stared at us when we walked down the street,” wrote Louise later. At its height, the act was pulling in $1,500 a week on the Orpheum circuit, and Dainty June was a powerhouse with top billing who often stopped the show.


Madam Rose taught the girls to lie about their ages to truant officers and railway train conductors, steal blankets and sheets from hotels, and sneak out without paying. The girls were practiced shoplifters. Madam Rose wasn’t above sabotaging rival acts and was masterful at conning well wishers out of money with her genteel, brave-but-helpless single mother act. June later said that after the age of five, she never believed anything her mother said.

 A tiny, delicate looking woman, Rose nevertheless once managed to push a hotel manager out of the window. Vaudeville was dying. (Elsewhere, June and Bobby Reed had tried to get an act going, but eventually had to settle for the grueling marathon dance circuit.) Rose Louise and her Hollywood Blondes, now living in a tent to save money on hotels, worked their first burlesque house, The Missouri Theatre in Kansas City. The rest is history for Miss Gypsy Rose Lee.... She became a huge burlesque star...



After June's elopement at age 13 with a young boy from the act (Bobby Reed, who inspired the dancing character of Tulsa in "Gypsy"). They married in North Platte, Nebraska with each lying about their age. By the time the Depression hit, however, vaudeville, the nation's economy and her marriage had all collapsed. Now a mother of a young daughter, April (born out of wedlock in 1935, April Kent acted briefly in the 1950s), June made ends meet by modeling, posing and toiling in dance marathons. The blonde, blue-eyed stunner also found work in stock musicals and on the Borscht Belt circuit. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Forbidden Melody in 1936.

Years passed before she earned her big break as Gladys in Rodgers and Hart's classic musical Pal Joey opposite Van Johnson and Gene Kelly in 1940. As a result of their scene-stealing work, the trio earned movie contracts - the two men heading off to the MGM studio and June to RKO. Married three times, June was long estranged from her sister, none too happy with Gypsy's portrayal of her in the best-selling memoir Gypsy.

The girls, noted for their trademark elongated faces and shapely gams, were estranged as children as well, but had eventually grown close for a time as adults. The sisters didn't patch things up until Gypsy told June that she was dying of lung cancer in 1970. June elaborated more about her relationship with her sister in her second autobiography, More Havoc, in 1980. Ms. Havoc died peacefully on March 29, 2009 at her home in Stamford, Connecticut of natural causes. She was 97. RIP June

3.29.2010

ORIGINAL MC5 BUTTON REVEALED!



Record covers feature special appearances by buttons. A personal favorite is the insert for Kick Out Jams by the MC5. How did they button their bare chests? And more importantly, where can an authentic White Panther button from Detroit circa 1969 be obtained?



Original MC5 "White Panthers" button on a jean jacket, where it belongs.

Detroit's favorite band the MC5 innovated buttons in the 1960s and used them on their record covers. A native Michigander contacted Busy Beaver Button Co. about his original MC5 button, and here’s his story:

The button was given to me by a girl I knew in the spring of 1969, when I was attending Pontiac Central High School (Michigan) and was deeply involved in the antiwar movement. I was the envy of all my fellow protesters as these pins weren’t that easy to come by even then.

3.28.2010

MARC BOLAN JEEPSTER!


Marc Bolan

I woke up today and a you tuber friend me with this ultra mod video of one of my favorites of all time Marc Bolan and I think you may love it too! Happy Sunday! Buy the music below if you like! RK



3.26.2010

3.25.2010

FIRE DESTROYED JOHNNY AND JUNE CASH HOME!


I got a chance to visit the Cash family home in the 80's and it is so tragic that it is all gone now. Yes he did have ostriches as "pets" watch birds in the yard. He had a separate cabin on the property where he would write music and just to be alone.


I got a chance to visit the Cash family home in the 80's and it is so tragic that it is all gone now. Yes he did have ostriches as "pets" watch birds in the yard. He had a separate cabin on the property where he would write music and just to be alone.


The main house was huge compared to Graceland which is relly quite small. I loved meeting them and down to earth people is what they were. They were more interested in what I did for a living than telling stories of their famous lives. They were wonderful.. RIP June and JR




3.22.2010

EARLY YEARS OF FLEETWOOD MAC (RK FAVORITES)



Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London. The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer, Mick Fleetwood.

 

Despite band founder Peter Green naming the group by combining his two former band-mates' surnames (Fleetwood, McVie) (from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers—it was actually the title Green had given to a demo recording they had recorded while in Mayall's band), bassist John McVie did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts.


Second Line up Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. Christine also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green, (my favorite time) and from 1975 to 1987, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. 

Nothing against the more successful lineup featuring Nicks and Buckingham but the original Fleetwood Mac was an entirely different band. Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John and Christine McVie's created a classic sound that is unforgettable. More about Fleetwood Mac's history HERE

READ MORE:

Beginner Guitar HQ is an authority guitar site painstakingly created by a group of dedicated guitarists. Their mission is to be the only resource you need to go from complete beginner to guitar pro. Here you will find everything you need to know including guitar lessons, instructional videos, news, guitar reviews and more.

3.19.2010

ALEX CHILTON OF THE BOX TOP DIES AT 59 RIP


Got the sad news today that the gorgeous lead singer of The Box Tops died suddenly at 59. Alex and The Box Tops were some of my favorite 45 records. Cry Like a Baby being my favorite though The Letter was the top seller. Loved his face and that voice.... I think that song was on the radio on my first date with a cute bass player from like 1971.

Alex Chilton, the pop hit maker, cult icon and Memphis rock iconoclast best known as a member of 1960s pop-soul act the Box Tops and the 1970s power-pop act Big Star, died Wednesday at a hospital in New Orleans. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was 59.

The Memphis-born Chilton rose to prominence at age 16 when his gruff vocals powered the massive Box Tops hit "The Letter," as well as "Cry Like a Baby" and "Neon Rainbow."

\
The Box Tops on Facebook

Sign the Legacy Guestbook for Alex HERE

Of course THE LETTER

THE LAST DAYS OF JIMI HENDRIX



On August 26th, 1970, Jimi Hendrix celebrated the official opening of his Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan’s West Village. It would be the last time he ever set foot in his beloved recording sanctuary; he died three weeks later in London at age 27 after ingesting a powerful dose of the sedative Vesperax.

But a month prior to the party, the man Rolling Stone would later name the Greatest Guitarist of All Time laid down a few special tracks, including a jam with Steve Winwood on “Valleys of Neptune,” in Electric Lady’s Studio A. That song, in a different incarnation, is now the centerpiece of a new collection of previously unreleased Hendrix gems called Valleys of Neptune.

In the new issue of Rolling Stone on sale at newsstands today, David Fricke dives into Hendrix’s last days and lost recordings, tracing the epic plans and earthly troubles that marked the guitar god’s final months.

Full Story HERE

Buy Valley's of Neptune HERE

3.18.2010

HELLDRIVERS NOT JUST A BAR BAND!



THE HELLDRIVERS!

This Friday Come on out!


The Helldrivers are a group of unbelievable musicians and when they play... the crowd is transfixed as they are watching history come to life! If you ever get a chance to see Jimmy McCarty and Johnny BEE play together consider yourself ultra lucky! Jeez these guys blew out Alvin's on Cass last Christmas and I have never had a better time watching live rock and roll.

I love the Howling Diablos and Tino too but when I stood just feet away from Bee and Jimmy and I could hardly hold the camera still. Go see these guys! Sorry Brett even though you say they are the "greatestes" bar band,The Helldrivers are no bar band. These are the MASTERS of Rock n Roll and not just in Detroit.

I am an Army kid from the Detroit area and heard these guys all over the US and I still get chills hearing them play. The very first 45 I bought in 1966 was The Detroit Wheels and well the rest is HISTORY. KIMMER

Listen to them playing live HERE feel free to grab their widget for your pages and blogs too!


3.16.2010

RK FAVORITE NOMINEES: DETROIT MUSIC AWARDS 2010!



Hey a whole bunch of my pals are nominated this year for the Detroit Music Awards show 2010! I am so excited... I may be able to go or might be stuck working at home. I'll beg my friend Kirk of the Motor City Blog to share film and stills. He is so generous with his images! You know there are so many cross over artists here that they should make one really BIG DETROIT BAND.... DAMN!


Art by Richard Peardon

I met the Circus Boy last summer and they were so sweet and it was a thrill to meet them at the Crimewave Studio. I had known Skid back in the day but hadn't seen him in many years. Met Michael who is just the nicest guy in rock n roll. Greasy was on the road and I finally got to meet him at Christmas time at the Helldrivers/Torpedos/Circusboy at Alvins Show which was also the second time I got to watch Circus Boy too. What a blast we had that night!


Outstanding Hard Rock Artist / Group Circus Boy
MikeJTone - Vocals Skid Marx-Bass Gary Adams Guitar Derek Murtaghx - Guitar Brian Moore Drums Margaret Dollrod - Guitar Greasy Carlisi - Guitar



Kimmer and Tino Gross

Outstanding Blues / R&B Songwriter Martin "Tino " Gross



The Howling Diablos photo: (c) Doug Coombe


Outstanding R&B Artist / Group
Howling Diablos



Outstanding Urban / Funk / Hip-Hop Recording
The Howling Diablos " Divine Trash Highway "





Outstanding Rock / Pop Instrumentalist Scott Morgan (guitar )

My friend and neighbor Scott Morgan is the nicest guy in the music business. He has seen everything and played with all the greats in the business. Scott is a master musician. I saw a photo of Scott and the Rationals and Scott was standing in front of a giant set of congas. I asked him who played those? Scott said, ME well of course!


This video was just sent to me by dear friend Goran of Jesus Loves the Stooges! Thank you Goran the SRB video is perfect for this piece!


The Rockets

Outstanding Anthology / Compilation / Reissue The Rockets, “The Rockets/No Ballads" ( Renaissance Records )

Detroit's own Rockets doing their arrangement of Peter Green's song "Oh, Well." This was a live performance in Burbank, CA in March, 1980.

Dave Gilbert - Lead Vocals (1977-1983)
John "The Bee" Badanjek - Drums, Vocals (1972-1983)
Jim McCarty - Guitar, Vocals (1972-1983)
Dennis Robbins - Guitar, Vocals (1972 -1983)
John Fraga - Bass (1977-1978)
David Hood - Bass (1979)
Dan Keylon - Bass (1980)
Bobby Neil Haralson - Bass (1981-1983)
Marc Marcano - Piano (1977)
Donnie Backus - Piano, Vocals (1979-1983)



Outstanding Blues / R&B Instrumentalist Jim McCarty ( guitar )
I finally got to shoot Jimmy McCarty from the stage at Christmas with the Helldrivers. It was mesmerizing to see this legend in person. He was so kind, hugged me and signed my cd too! Just your average teenage girl thrills!!


I will be cheering on all these very talented and well deserving musicians!

3.15.2010

ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME 2010 REPORT



Sunday, March 21 at 5P/4C
Rock Hall Photos HERE

Last night's RHF Stooges clip HERE

Well we saw the guys inducted and Iggy said two things that mattered. He said and I quote " Ron was Cool and the MC5 were cool" He said it all in the one statement. It is upsetting that the 5 have not been inducted but they are ok about it. I am not ok with it but they are happy for Iggy and all of the Stooges personnel. Iggy spoke very eloquently and choked up at the end of his speak for the successful second life of the Stooges.



MC5 NEED TO BE INDUCTED!

These guys really should have their place along side all the other greats in rock history and the 5 were responsible for thousands of bands to begin their own bands including the Stooges. There that is all I'll say on that topic for tonight. Except Iggy earned points from me because all day tv commercials were running for the show Iggy screaming Kick Out the Jams Motherfu**er Yes IGGY the MC5 and Ron are COOL

Favorite moment of the show for me was JIMMY CLIFF.

Jimmy Cliff

When Jimmy Cliff was 14 years old, a teenager approached him in a Kingston bar and asked Cliff to listen to his music.

That stranger turned out to be Bob Marley, who went on to become a reggae legend and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Tonight, reggae superstar Cliff joined him in the Rock Hall of Fame in a ceremony to be held in New York City.

Fast Forward to the late 90's (I think) I was invited by my friend Robin and promoter friend Bart Loeb to see Jimmy live at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. Bart produced the show and it was packed.

They had a little white reggae group from Ann Arbor open for Jimmy and though they were great... their set ended and big booming drums along with steel drums started up and Jimmy's voice blasted out on the mic from backstage YOU WANT REGGAE? WE YOU GOT IT NOW.

I made my way to the stage front and stood transfixed for his entire set. So close I could have grabbed his foot and yanked him off the stage. It was oneof my most memorable moments of my life in music.

Tonight he was just as young and clear as if it were 1972. tonight he sang Many Rivers to Cross and the crowd didn't breath while he was singing either.


My next favorite moments were by various artists sings ongs from the Brill Building songwriters and as Carole King also mentioned that other Brill Building nearby



Ronnie Spector sang I Can Hear Music which I loved totally as she is the QUEEN to me she is the 60's to me!


Homorable mentions: Singing the songwriter's famous songs

Eric Burdon We gotta Get Outta theis Place
Peter Wolf of Jay Geils sang Money Honey (Really good)
Chris Isaak another of my hunky favorites sang Don't Be Cruel
Fifi Godson sing River Deep Moutnain High Tina Turner version (never hear of her but she was great!


The musicians sang the show off to Shake Rattle and Roll

Full Report from Yahoo HERE

PETER GRAVES : DIES AT 83



Sad news today at Peer Grave died suddenly yesterday after having brunch with his fanily. We loved him as the dad in Fury, Jim Phelps in Mission Impossible and the bumbling pilot in airplane. Peter was also the brother of Gunsmoke star James Arness.


LOS ANGELES – Peter Graves, whose calm and intelligent demeanor was a good fit to the intrigue of "Mission Impossible" as well as the satire of the "Airplane" films, has died.

Graves passed away Sunday just a few days before his 84th birthday outside his home in Los Angeles, publicist Sandy Brokaw said. Graves was returning from brunch with his wife of nearly 60 years and his family when he had what Graves' doctor believed was a heart attack, Brokaw said.

Graves first gained attention of many baby boomers with the 1950s TV series "Fury," but remained best known for the role of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in TV's "Mission: Impossible."

Normally cast as a hero, he turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 prisoner-of-war drama "Stalag 17."

He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster movie spoof "Airplane!"


Peter was fabulous as the very serious leader of MISSION : Impossible: and the bumbling pilot of Airplane a real step out of his normal image:


Graves appeared in dozens of films and a handful of television shows in a career of nearly 60 years.The authority and trust he projected made him a favorite for commercials late in his life, and he was often encouraged to go into politics. "He had this statesmanlike quality," Brokaw said. "People were always encouraging him to run for office." RIP Mr Graves....

3.14.2010

MC5/SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS BOX SETS EZ ACTION


MC5 - Purity Accuracy Box
from Easy Action Records

Dear Carlton sent Kimmer the MC5 box set and single cd for Christmas and I don't want to unwrap it as it will grow in value in mint condition one day.




It has so many of the live recording that the 5 are famous for and a lot of new DKT/MC5 recordings as well. It belongs in every MC5 fan's collection. As the official blogger ofr Dennis Thompson and friend of Wayne and Michael I can tell you the new music is almost better than the originals. You can get your UK copy from Carlton HERE

My amazon link is here:



From Carlton's Website with playlist


• Purity Accuracy is the first “Band Authorized” project since 1971

• Across the six discs the boxed set contains a wealth of previously unreleased material

• The booklet contains many previously unpublished photos supplied by the band

• Includes two replica archive MC5 Stickers

• The box includes band performing new live versions of classic songs with Lemmy from Motorhead, Nicke from the Hellacopters and Dave Vanian from the Damned on vocals

• The liner notes in the booklet are written by celebrated “Rock Author” Nina Antonia feature current interviews with all of the surviving members of the band.

• The MC5 (DKT) have completed many successful World Tours since 2004 culminating in a mindblowing show with Primal Scream at the Royal Festival Hall where both bands played sets and then joined together for at least half an hour including a staggering version of black to comm. This was all filmed !!

• An MC5 DVD was released through BMG to coincide with the tour and received positive critical acclaim

• The boxed set contains scarce recordings from the fledgling band in 1965 to blistering live performances in 1970 and recordings as recent as 2004!!!

MC5 - Purity Accuracy Box

Rehearsals (74 mins)

1. Skunk
2. Poison
3. Gotta keep movin
4. Baby wont ya
(Fred Smith guide vocals), 1970, Unreleased version
5. Sister Ann
6. Future now
7. Over & over
( Fred Acoustic inst 1970)
8. Train Music
(summer 71, London, Unreleased track and special edit, Intended for use in the film 'Gold', Kramer bass+piano)
9. The Pledge song
(early version of Sister Anne no vox. Head Sounds Ypsilanti oct/nov 70- )
10. Power trip
(early version of Skunk no vox. Head Sounds Ypsilanti oct/nov 70)
11. Tutti-Frutti
12. Tonight
13. Teenage lust inst
14. Looking at you 2nd Version
15. High school inst
16. Call me animal inst
17. The American ruse
18. Shaking street
(Acoustic version summer ’69 with Fred on Vocals)
19. Human being lanwmower
20. Back in the usa
21. Looking at you inst
22. What is Zenta?
23. Kick out the jams

1965-68 (71 mins)

24. Looking at you (United Sound Studios January 1968)
25. Borderline (United Sound Studios January 1968)
26. Looking at you Instrumental (United Sound Studios January 1968)
27. I can only give you everything (United Sound Studios January 1966)
28. I just don’t know (United Sound Studios January 1966)
29. One of the guys (Terra Sherma Studios Detroit 1966)
30. Little red riding grmph ( Basement rehearsal mrs Kramers)
31. I don’t mind ( Basement rehearsal mrs Kramers)
32. Look what you’ve done done ( Basement rehearsal mrs Kramers)
33. Baby please don’t go ( Basement rehearsal mrs Kramers)
34. Break time (recorded at a polish wedding)
35. I’m a man (Artists workshop)
36. Looking at you ( Cody High School)
37. Black to Comm ( Cody High School)
38. I put a spell on you (live at ‘Dialogue ‘68’ First Unitarian Church Detroit Sept 7th 1968)
39. Born under a bad sign (live at ‘Dialogue ‘68’ First Unitarian Church Detroit Sept 7th 1968)
40. I want you right now (live at ‘Dialogue ‘68’ First Unitarian Church Detroit Sept 8th 1968)
41. I believe to my soul (Sunday sept 8th 1968 live First Unitarian Church Detroit )

Live at the Saginaw Civic Centre 1st jan 1970 (50 mins)

42. Intro Rambling Rose
43. Human being Lawnmower
44. Tonight
45. Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama lama fa fa fa)
46. It’s a man’s world
47. Teenage lust
48. Looking at you
49. Fire of love
50. Shakin street
51. Starship/Kick out the jams/Black to comm /Teenage lust

Live at The Grande Ballroom 1968 (64 mins)

52. Brother J.C intro (27th Oct 1968)
53. Motor city is burning (30/31Oct 1968)
54. I believe to my soul (30/31Oct 1968)
55. Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama la fa fa fa) (31st Oct 1968)
56. I’m mad like Eldridge Cleaver (27th Oct 1968)
57. Ice pick Slim (26th May 1968)
58. Black to comm (unknown recording date)

Live in Michigan (27/05/1968) at the Sturgis Armory on a 7” tape direct from the soundboard (72 min)

59. Kick out the Jams
60. Come together
61. Revolutionary blues
62. Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama lama fa fa fa)
63. James Brown Medley:- Cold Sweat, I can’t stand myself, There was a time
64. Upper Egypt
65. Tutti Frutti
66. Borderline
67. Born under a bad sign
68. I want you
69. Starship
70. Black to Comm


SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS BAND BOX SET


Scott Morgan

Last week I stopped over to see if I could help Scott fix his computer issues and he gave me the Easy Action (owned by Carlton my email buddy in the UK) box set of Sonic's Rendezvous Band. I have been playing it over and over ever since and it totally kicks! I saw the band live once at the Second Chance bar in Ann Arbor long ago. This set is available for sale in my Amazon store and I highly recommend this huge collector's item. Scott autographed my favorite insert photo as I have an actual recent photo of the very same shirt. Fred Sonic Smith created the band after the MC5 broke up and this band should have been huge but things happen don't they in the history of rock n roll


My USA Amazon store link



From Carlton's website

A lavish 6 Disc box set by one of the most legendary (almost) super groups of the seventies, featuring Scott Morgan (Rationals) Fred ‘ Sonic ‘ Smith (MC5) Scott ‘Rock Action’ Asheton (Stooges) Gary Rasmussen (The Up).

• The only product the band ever released was a 7” Single of “City Slang” ( which was on both sides mono & stereo). The original of which commands ridiculous prices in the collectors field.

• The band themselves have all contributed as well as the estate of Fred Smith.
• Contains interviews with existing band members, unseen photographs from Bob Matheu (Creem), Sue Rynski and various shots from the private collection of the band themselves.

• Due to the lack of material available to date, demand for this box set on the Easy Action web site has been unprecedented.

• Design of this set is being handled by ex Rhino art director and Grammy award winner Rachel Gutek

STOOGES RHF INDUCTION TOMORROW NIGHT


THE STOOGES!

SEE RARE STOOGES SONGS LIST Jesus Loves the Stooges

In honor of this special occasion I am posting all my blogging friends photos with members of Stooges and some videos too! I did see them around town back in the day but they were a little rougher than my stylish girl mentality could handle. But later in life with my many tutors and rock mentors I have grown to love Iggy and the Stooges, Asheton brothers, James Williamson and Dave Alexander (RIP) So I hope you enjoy Stooges Sunday for RK! Photo credits at the bottom of post...

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony to be Broadcast Monday Mar 15 8:30 Fuse TV (Channel 148 on Comcast Cable) Detroit Check your local cable listing online HERE.

DONATE TO THE ALPENA SHELTER!



Back in 1996 I went to the Alpena shelter and they saved me from a terrible abusive relationship. I met Yvonne Ellis (RIP) and she changed my life forever for the better.

Please donate to The Shelter HERE


Yvonne Therese Ellis
(January 15, 1944 - November 29, 2006)

ELLIS, Yvonne Therese, 62, of Alpena, passed away Wednesday, November 29, 2006 after a valiant fight with cancer.

Yvonne was born January 15, 1944 in Alpena to Jay and Mary “Betty” (Melden) Sleeper. After raising her family she chose to return to school receiving her Bachelor Degree from Central Michigan University in 1994 and her Masters in Education from Spring Arbor University in 2000. She had almost completed her Masters in Counseling from Spring Arbor University when she became ill. She was a member of St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Gaylord, and employed by North Country Community Mental Health of Gaylord as a Support Coordinator. Her hobbies included education and camping.

She is survived by three daughters; Kimberly (Dan) Ludlow, Alexandria (Daniel) Oaks both of Alpena, Mary Cameron of Hillman, two sons; Matthew (Misty) Ellis of Nicholasville, KY, Jeffery Ellis of Muskegon, MI, 13 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and a sister; Karen Steffenhagen of Madison, WI. And her dear friend Kim Maki of Ann Arbor.

3.10.2010

VALLEYS OF NEPTUNE: JIMI HENDRIX RELEASE


I am buying this record tonight and I thought I'd share it with my friends!

June 18, 1967 Jimi Hendrix performs at the Monterey International Pop Festival. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones introduces him as “the most exciting performer I’ve ever heard.” At the end of his performance, he burns his Fender Stratocaster. “The time I burned my guitar it was like a sacrifice,” Jimi said. “You sacrifice the things you love. I love my guitar. I’d just finished painting it that day and was really into it.” Literally overnight, the Jimi Hendrix Experience become one of the most popular acts in rock music.



ROLLING STONE
:

Some grousing from fans greets most posthumous Jimi Hendrix studio releases. And fair enough: Hendrix can't offer his opinion anymore, and between past dubious product (i.e., the heavily overdubbed Crash Landing) and ongoing estate squabbles, there's been plenty of sketchy business over the years. But on Valleys of Neptune — a collection of more-or-less previously unreleased tracks recorded with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1969, assembled by the archivists at Legacy and the Hendrix estate — the music is seething, gorgeous, alive.

Unreleased doesn't necessarily mean unfamiliar. "Stone Free," the opener, remakes one of Hendrix's earliest recordings, gaining in expansive arranging what it loses in garage-band immediacy (WTF, no cowbell?!). Ditto for a raging "Fire," featuring a guitarist somehow even more fluidly dazzling than he was on the original, even if he no longer asks Rover to move over.

There's a wildly jammed, slightly showoff-y instrumental of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and a deliciously funky take on Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart." For lay Hendrix fans, however, the biggest treat will be bright, revelatory mixes of tracks known mainly to connoisseurs: The lush, tuneful space travelogue of the title track; the snarling, horny blues stomp "Ships Passing Through the Night," with its lava-spitting outro; the breakneck instrumental rocker "Lullaby for the Summer." Are these tracks "finished" as Hendrix would've intended? Probably not. But as a glimpse of the guitarist extending his reach beyond the Experience trio, it's thrilling.

3.09.2010

ANN ARBOR ROCK REVIVAL 2009...NEW VIDEO

Kimmer and Nadirah Maki chatting with shy drummer Rob King ...


The CTN film crew! Released this video and it is fun!


Features Hiawatha, Scott Morgan Deniz Tek Retro: Kimmer, Rob King, Nikki Corvette, Chris Taylor, Mark lead singer from Mazinga. We chatted with Jonas today on Facebook and he is getting a DVD and tv show together soon.

There are other videos posted and you can watch them on Scott Morgan's FB fan Page HERE Deniz Tek FB Fan Page and Scott talk about their friendship, touring together about how Deniz was inspired by the great Ann Arbor band the Rationals


Jonas has more film coming as he completes his editing (slow process as he has a much better camera than I do! Enjoy for now will post more later....

Many thanks to Jonas Sliuzas and the CTN crew!

THE MAJESTIC THEATER DETROIT MICHIGAN


The Majestic Theatrer, designed by C. Howard Crane, opened on April 1, 1915. The theatre originally seated 1,651 people (at the time the largest theatre in the world built for the purpose of showing movies), and the facade was designed in an arcaded Italian style. In 1934, the front 35 feet of the theatre were removed when Woodward Avenue was widened to its present size. The entire facade was redesigned into its current striking Art Deco motif. The theater now boasts the largest enameled metal panel Art Deco facade in the Detroit metropolitan region.

The theatre eventually closed, and the building was used as a church for a time, and later as a photographic studio. It lay vacant for ten years. The present owner purchased the building in 1984.

There is a myth that legendary magician Harry Houdini gave his last performance on stage here, on Halloween night 1926. In fact, Houdini last performed at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit and died a few days later of peritonitis at Detroit's Grace Hospital on October 31, 1926.


I first saw Jimmy Cliff play here and since then I have been thinking about renting it for different events. The Majestic Theatre is a theatre located at 4126-4140 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Today, the theatre is mainly a music venue. It hosts a variety of musical concerts in three separate areas of the building: The Majestic, The Majestic Cafe, and The Magic Stick.

THE POLICE AT THE MICHIGAN THEATER A2



It was a fun night when 2 kids I used to babysit Alice and Tom Gannon Carol's kids wrangled me into going with them to a "punk" rock show at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. I was in my early twenties and they were teens.

When we arrived I saw tons of kids with multi colored mohawks and safety pins sticking out of the faces and ears. I felt a hundred years old... I could have just stayed in the lobby to people watch these kids.

Went into to the show and XTC wasn't very memorable but the POLICE certainly were! I thought hey wait a minute these guys aren't PUNK they are REGGAE! I loved every song they played.

I bought their album in the lobby the one with Roxanne. From that point on I was a huge Police fan. I did think that Sting didn't need that band at the time but now I listen to the old songs and there is a certain tone to the old Police that Sting does need.

After that show I went to see them,4 more times in three different states. Saw them in Cincinnati, Freedom Hall in Kentucky, Cobo Arena and I saw them in Atlanta. Their music still stands and has never gone out of style....

3.08.2010

JOHN VARVATOS' MUSIC BLOG

Deniz Tek and Scott Morgan of Powertrane with John Varvatos

John Varvatos is psyched to announce the launch of "JV's Funhouse," a music centric blog highlighting the designers trips to concerts, festivals, parties and backstage jam sessions around the world.

John Varvatos grew up in Detroit and at an early age was exposed to defining musicians including The Who, Led Zeppelin, Detroit's own MC5, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, and The Stooges. The creative spirit and personal style of these rock 'n' roll icons inspired John and has been a constant source of influence on the evolution of his eclectic sensibility.

"Music is one of my great passions and I really wanted to share my experiences with other music lovers out there. 'JV's Funhouse' grew out of this idea and I'm psyched to be able to share my videos, photos and stories from some of today's great, and up-and-coming, rock and rollers," said John Varvatos.

From the most recent surprise gig by Guns N' Roses to kick off NYC Fashion Week, to backstage jam sessions in the trailer with Perry Ferrell and Eddie Vedder at South by Southwest, to Lenny Kravitz playing live at the Fillmore – be sure to check out "JV's Funhouse" for John's personal whirlwind tour through today's latest and greatest in the rock music scene.

In addition, John's blog will feature posts from his monthly show on SIRIUS XM's Faction channel entitled Born In Detroit.

JVS FUNHOUSE

3.07.2010

KIMMER LOVES THE MOTOR CITY RAH RAHS!

The Motor City Rah Rahs at Alvins on Cass photo: Retrokimmer

The first time we saw the Motor City Rah Rah's in action was this past summer when I went to the Russell St People's Art Fest to film interviews. They were dancing and cheering behind my good buddies Circus Boy. Hard to keep up with MJTone and his stage persona!


Who can watch the band with those fun girls and those glittery pom poms?? BTW KIMMER WANTS HER OWN POM POM!! I will practice the Rah Rah dancing routine in my room! I did get to hold on to the Poms while the girls were taking a breather! No I wasn't tempted to jump up on stage and do the rah rah thing! LOL

We fast forward to Detroit on December 26 when we went to see the Helldrivers/Torpedos/Circus Boy show at Alvins on Cass. With me were my very special friends Trudie Duart and my best bud from Florida Rockin Robin. We had such a blast, Met Tiger baseball legend Kirk Gibson and totally enjoyed the show!




Most exciting moment was when Trudie and I approached guitar legend Jimmy McCarty to autograph our Helldriver cds. He turned around and hugged me and insisted on opening the cds for us so the cover wouldn't tear! So sweet! Thanks so much JIM!


We were thrilled to see our friends Jim Edwards, MikeJT, Skid, Greasy, BEE, and meet Mitchel Angelos (Torpedos) and see him perform for the first time. He was such fun to see and film! All in all it was the best Christmas gift for me to spend time with everyone that night!

The Howling Diablos invited Kimmer to film at the Radisson in Livonia. Nice club but really hard to film with the black fence around the stage and poor lighting. We muddled throught the best we could. With me came special guests Ivan Kral, Cindy Hudson and Mark Sisto lead singer from the Visitors

We were busy running around a filming, shooting stills and then after a couple of songs into the sets who should suddenly appear? Susie Forkin and Vivian George of the Rah Rahs! YES!

Now things got lively! They really sparkle up whatever show that features their unique and lively dancing! Really... they make a huge difference in the performance of the bands. They are such fun and the audience and bands alike are sparked to life by their dancing. I had a really hard time trying not to dance along and shake my cameras! Sorry for the shaking.... couldn't help myself!



Vivian George, Mark Sisto and Susie Forkin at The Radisson

I was running around the club going between shooting stills and switching to video, not an easy task! Luckily I had fabulous technical support and assistance from Ivan ! Imagine that famous filmmaker Ivan Kral helping me shoot and fixing my camera too! Some people are just that lucky! Thank you Ivan !!!

3.06.2010

THE FABULOUS ANGIE PEPPER!


Recently I discovered Angie Pepper and her beautiful voice when I began blogging with Deniz Tek. Angie and Deniz were married for many years and have two very talented adult/children, Hana and Max. More on Hana (pronun:Hahna) and Max later.....

I emailed Angie in Australia and asked if she would do an interview of 5 questions with which she graciously accepted! I just received her first answer so we'll do segments on AP as the answers come in.

My first question was kind of vague as I didn't really know much about her life and was just learning about her life and music. Here is my first question I sent to Ms Pepper:

RK: I am the mother of an artist daughter Gullacass Gallery (Lesley) and you (Hana) are too. What are your thoughts on raising an artist child that has totally different goals than we had? ( I am not sure where I got that idea but I sent it)

AP: I am very close to both my children, Hana and Max, and they are both very artistic and musically gifted. You’ve asked me specifically about Hana so I’ll focus on her...

Angie and Hana

Hana and I didn’t have completely different goals at all, but in many ways Hana is better equipped than I was to achieve them. Hana is much less susceptible to being disarmed than I was at her age. I was raised with the idea that I could do anything I wanted in life and so was Hana, but I think Hana believes it with more conviction than I did. I hope so, anyway.


I was the youngest of three children in a middle class family, both parents working full time, and in many ways I was left to my own devices. That had its pros and cons. I couldn’t have been more loved by my parents and siblings but I spent a good deal of time on my own.

Hana is my eldest and never lacked attention. I was a full time wife and mom, which became my career. It was instinctive, intuitive, more than a decision. I wouldn’t say my children were spoiled but they had relatively privileged childhoods with lots of opportunity.


I was more vulnerable to having my dreams hijacked, allowing them to be hijacked, or just giving them up for lack of confidence in myself or in the probability of opportunity. I grew up feeling I was destined to do something special but for some reason I always thought that somehow, someway, something would prevent me from achieving it. Perhaps it was a lack of real faith in myself that stood in my way.

Angie on Stage

As a young girl for me it was always art and music. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. From as early as I can remember I was told how artistic I was. I would draw and paint all the time, make stuff, and was praised and rewarded for my ability. My mother taught me to sew and I designed and made a lot of my own clothes.

In my final year of high school for the practical level 1 Art unit I made a coat from raw wool that I dyed, spun, wove, crocheted, sewed…it was a bizarre organic creation with gumnuts, seeds, beads, and all kinds of stuff in it. I thought it would be a catastrophe because I didn’t plan it, I just let it evolve and I ended up winning first place for it. I still have it.

I loved to sing, as I guess most kids do, but I didn’t stop. I remember singing myself to sleep every night, late into the night (I still do sometimes). My parents’ bedroom was adjacent to mine and they’d have to come in several times and “suggest” I stop singing and “try to go to sleep now, honey”. It must have driven them nuts night after night.

My first grade piano teacher was very distressed when I stopped taking lessons. She told my mother it was a crime because I had more musical ability in my little finger that all of her other pupils combined. I liked playing the piano but her house smelled old and musty and was dark and gave me the creeps and I could sing all by myself and anywhere I wanted. I didn’t get praised for much else so it was obvious to me what direction I was to take. Art and music were my natural calling.

I was very shy and didn’t have a lot of friends… nothing like the effervescent outgoing personality that Hana has. Show business was not on my mind at all. I didn’t like being looked at and I always thought of my talents as things for me alone to enjoy, not anything that would be interesting or entertaining to others. That came later.

Hana Tek lacing her skates

Hana and I have lots of seemingly coincidental childhood influences. We both have figure skating in our background. When I was eleven, an ice rink opened a half mile from my school (an unusual occurrence for an Australian coastal town) and I would walk there every afternoon to skate. I loved it. My mom and dad bought me my own skates and I’d started taking lessons.

An ice show was planned and although I wanted to participate so badly, I was scared to death of putting myself out there to be scrutinized. Unfortunately the organizer ran off with the funds and the rink had to close before the show. I got to skate for 6 months. Hana did it for about 10 years, eight of them competitively. Olympic coaches, 4am starts, full on training, totally consuming. She loved the spotlight from birth and she loved performing on ice… and with good reason. She was a natural from her first step on the ice.

Hana and Max

We were at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone Park one winter. There was a frozen pond and rental skates available. Hana really wanted to try it. I was a bit reluctant because she was so little; she was about five years old. Max was a toddler and I had to keep such a tight reign on him in the cold and I feared letting Hana go out on the ice on her own. With my heart in my throat I laced on her skates and off she went.

 Mammoth Springs Ice Rink

My fears proved to be unfounded. She took off like she’d been doing it since birth. I was amazed, then I remembered how it felt and I wasn’t. It was all she talked about all the way home. There was an ice rink back home in Billings Montana.

I eventually took her out there and that was the beginning of what could easily be a novel. Hana is a beautiful skater. She had the beauty, talent, skill and style on ice to make anyone else out there invisible. She flowed like water. She was mesmerizing, but couldn’t deal with competition. She’s a natural performer, not a natural competitor. She quit at 15 which was a good thing. She wanted and needed more balance in her life and was wise enough to know it.

I went to Art school after high school and dropped out after a year and a half. I was bored with life in Newcastle and wanted more excitement. One Friday night after classes, I was coaxed into getting up at the local pub to sing with a blues band that had no vocalist that night. It was the first time I’d sung with a full band and I LOVED IT. They offered me a paying gig and I jumped at it. I was broke, $10 was a lot of money to me, and nobody paid me to go to art school. In high school I’d played guitar and sang with a couple of other girls.

We represented the school at various events and competitions so I had some experience with an audience. But this time I had a whole band to back me up and I got to carry the vocals all by myself. What a high! I was hooked. Strangely enough, I’d never felt so uninhibited, self-confident or oblivious to judgement ever before in my whole life. I felt so at home.

This was where I belonged. I sang with them (The Electric Jug Band) for about a year in Newcastle. The highlight was a support to Bo Diddley when he came to town. I was about 17. He was very complimentary, said he loved my voice and suggested I go to the States. My flush of pride dwindled to embarrassment when “thank you Mr Diddley” was met with a belly laugh from him. The girl on stage and the girl off stage are completely different. Jekyll and Hyde. Lion and mouse.

Done with Art school, I headed to Sydney. I knew one day I’d be singing again. The rest is documented history.


In Hana’s last year of high school in Montana she was asked to sing with a high school band, The Shrimpers. They covered some Passengers songs and it was eerie watching and hearing her sing “Girlfriends Boyfriend” and “Only One Way Out”. She looked and sounded so much like me…except her voice is deeper. We don’t actually sound the same and she doesn’t try to sound like me but if you heard her you’d know she was my daughter. Unlike me, her persona on and off stage is more consistent.


After high school, Hana had done an apprenticeship with renowned tattooists Art and Steve Godoy (The Golden Breed, Last of the Badmen). Hana loves tattooing, really wanted to get back to it, was bored with Art school and, being in Sydney, already had too much excitement in her life to make it to classes. Hana dabbled in Sydney’s nightlife and music scene (2003-2004) before becoming a dedicated tattoo artist.


See Hana's Art HERE
Read Hana's Latest News Article HERE

I dabbled in Sydney’s nightlife and music scene (late 70’s… Radio Birdman etc) before joining the Passengers in 1979, which I believed then to be the beginning of a lifelong singing career, unaware of the imminent simple twist of fate that would spin me out in a different direction.


1979 was a huge year for me and one of bizarre twists and turns. I was a single girl, happy, had formed a fantastic band with great friends, having the time of my life and that was all I needed. The Passengers played our first gig on March 17th, Jim Dickson’s birthday, and by October of the same year I was living in the frozen wasteland that was Detroit.


The power of love can move mountains and it certainly moved Angie Pepper way off her anticipated course to one she had never imagined. I guess I’ve always been dominated by my heart and, right or wrong, I ride with it regardless. I never imagined it would be the end of my singing career.

I didn’t realize I couldn’t do it all but once my family with Deniz Tek had been established, that became my passion and my career. Nothing was more important. It was not practical for me to have a career outside of our family.

Deniz effectively had three careers in play at the same time and we decided my value was at home. It was consistent with the role my mother-in-law had, which was a proven valuable one. We moved frequently during our time in the military (Deniz a trained Navy pilot/surgeon).

Geographically, we never had extended family support and in that regard we were isolated. I was a full time wife and mom by necessity and my goal had become to help Deniz, Hana and Max accomplish theirs. Regardless of the consequences of that decision, I’ll never regret it.

We’re all the product of our parents and ancestors and Hana often thinks of herself as a carbon copy of me. I see me in her and a lot more. I’m not a competitive person but I’ve always tried to be the best that I can be at anything I did…the best ME I could be. Hana is the same and we both hate letting ourselves and anyone else down.

Hana is a frontier girl and a family girl. Her great, great grandmother had children then ran off to be a bareback rider in a traveling circus. I can easily see Hana leaving the kids with granny to sporadically run off to do her thing. Hana is well on her way to accomplishing her goals. She has worked hard and achieved something that no one can ever take away from her. She has a good foundation and I doubt she will ever find herself in the position of having to deny or exclude any of her goals or natural callings from her life.

Max Angie and Hana

I know Max will be a full on, hands on, dedicated family man. Nothing will be more important to him. I’m not saying Hana won’t be. Of course she will be. It’s in her genes. She’s just got more bird in her than Max. She needs to spread her wings and glide on the wind. Max is master of the land. He’s more sure footed.

Max has a great voice and possibly the most musical aptitude of all of us. His pitch and timing are perfect and he has very eclectic taste in music. He is definitely his own man and I’m sure that if he didn’t shun the limelight as he does he could be a successful actor. He definitely has that talent. Max reminds me a lot of my dad. My dad died when Max was six years old and Max didn’t get the chance to really know him but they are extremely similar. Just goes to show you we don’t arrive as a blank page and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

For such young people Hana and Max have great wisdom, self assurance, self confidence and insight. They are further along the evolutionary plane than their parents.

RK
Angie has written a beautiful historical view of her life but I really want you readers to hear Angie Pepper sing Miss You Too Much! Blows my mind... This song prompted me to ask for the interview.....

RK Angie Pepper is still singing and you can order her catalog of music at Citadel Records
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